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BUSINESSES that have been changing with the times are the ones that are the most successful.

And, ahead of Friday’s Business Excellence Awards, run by The News, the short list for those in the running for the Innovation of the Year award has been announced.

This award recognises firms that do things a bit differently.

It could be by using an innovative product or service, or their whole business could be seen as an innovative solution to a particular problem.

The first firm short-listed is North Harbour firm Douglas Stafford for developing its DS Insight system.

Mystery shopping firm Douglas Stafford overhauled the way it reports its findings to its customers in 2013. It revamped its DS Insight website tool to help make the online viewing process simpler and more efficient. It means customers can view and listen to the footage of being mystery shopped, see the results and also score the footage themselves.

The second firm on the list is called The Driving Project.

Quite simply, this firm wants to save lives.

It goes into schools and colleges and teaches youngster about how to drive safely long before they are able to take to private roads.

The Driving Project is the first of its kind being rolled out on such a large scale in the UK and in just one year, 10 secondary schools have signed up to the programme.

Finally, Gosport’s Regale Microwave Ovens is also on the list.

Regale had a simple idea. The firm wanted a way to help large-scale caterers use their microwaves in a safe way, and be able to clean them properly with minimum fuss.

So they designed the cavity liner, which can be removed from microwaves and cleaned, and helps prolong the lives of commercial microwaves.

The firm already has national contracts with restaurant chains, and plans to expand this in 2014.

The Business Excellence Awards are being held at the Guildhall in Portsmouth on Friday.